Irish Water plans to charge €5k flat connection fee

Irish Water plans to charge ROI self-builders a flat fee of €5,636 to connect to water and wastewater services, as compared to the current average new connection fee of approximately €10,000 on one-off houses.

The combined charge will result in lower total connection costs in 53 of the 57 current charging regimes, with an increase applying in four regimes, Irish Water told Selfbuild.

One of the biggest changes under the proposed policy is that Irish Water will complete all of the connection works to the boundary of the property, providing a standard national connection service. This is not the case today where customers are often required to complete, and separately pay for, elements of these works themselves.

There are currently 57 different charging regimes with over 900 different connection charges across the 31 Local Authorities. All charging regimes have different methods for calculating connection charges, including different structures and customer classifications.

In addition, there are different levels of connection works performed across the charging regimes (i.e. differences in the physical and material works included and how these charges are applied).

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Astrid Madsen is the editor of SelfBuild & Improve Your Home magazine. She previously held the same role in an Irish trade publication, before that she worked at the National Standards Authority of Ireland. She graduated with a BA in Urban Studies from Columbia University in New York and holds an MBA from the Instituto de Estudios Bursatiles in Madrid. France of origin, she now lives in Portarlington, County Laois, where she's taken on the task of renovating a listed building! Email astrid.madsen@selfbuild.ie

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